The Seven Rules
by seeyouontheice
Summary: well its a bit ... dark I guess - and there's a touch of the supernatural too.


Elliot grabbed her elbow and dragged her into their office the moment the lawyer had walked back to his client. Jac didn't argue with him as he shut the door firmly on Mo and Jonny. "Do they know?"

"Does who know what?" Elliot gave her a stern look. "No. They know nothing … you're the only one Elliot. And I'm not telling them; they don't need to know!"

The professor sighed. "If it wasn't for the fact that he's here then I'd say do what you want but Jac … he _is_ here and …"

"And what?"

"You know what," Elliot said gently and Jac slumped down on the edge of her desk.

"It happened to someone else Elliot;" she whispered finally. "Not me … I – I … I changed my name so that I could convince myself that it had happened to someone else. Please don't take that away from me."

Elliot sighed, "if you testified," he said tentatively, "then he'd be locked away for good …"

"I can't."

"Why not Jac? I have all the evidence that is needed here," he bent down and dug through one of his desk draws for a moment before pulling out a file. "I know how you feel about people seeing this – it's why I keep it in here – but ..."

Jac shook her head. "I just can't, okay?"

Elliot relented, "fine … just make sure you don't end up alone with him, can you promise me that? Jac?" Jac paused with a hand on the door handle.

"I promise," and she meant it.

"And give Mo the case." Jac nodded.

Jonny and Mo, thankfully, hadn't been listening at the door – although they wouldn't have understood much – and had headed over to the nurses' station. After taking a moment, Jac joined them. "How familiar are you with Mr Evans' case?" she asked Mo.

"I know what he's in for – and what he's on trial for – if that's what you mean."

"Do you think you can handle it?" Jac asked and Mo nodded.

"I'll give it a go … why aren't you on it?"

"Doesn't matter," Jac muttered as she handed over the file.

"You alright?" Jonny asked, concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jac asked as Mo ventured over towards Mr Evans and his lawyer.

Jonny watched her as she sat down on the chair Mo just vacated. "You would tell me if you weren't though, right?"

Jac bit her lip and nodded as Mo returned with the lawyer in tow and a look of annoyance on her face. "Why are you fobbing my client off with a junior?" he demanded and it took all Jac's strength to throw him a glare and pretend that she wasn't afraid.

"Ms Effanga is perfectly capable and is a fully qualified registrar who is most likely better suited to treating your client than I am," she said to the counter.

"I want you to treat him!" he pointed a finger at Jac.

"Or what?" Jonny bristled, not happy about the way he was speaking and Jac closed her eyes.

"You don't wanna know what I'd do!" Jac grabbed Jonny's arm before he responded to the threat knowing that it would just make matters a hundred times worse.

"Leave it," Jac told him, turning away from the lawyer and giving Jonny a look that told him not to rise to the bait. "Please," she added so only he could hear. Frowning at her Jonny nodded and let it go as Jac turned back to the lawyer. "I'll treat him," she told him in tones that weren't here usual ones laced with bitterness.

He worked his jaw before he shrugged and marched back to his client leaving Jonny and Mo to look at Jac wonderingly. "You gonna tell us what happened?" Mo asked.

"What?"

"Jac … what's wrong?"

"_Nothing!_" Jac got to her feet in need to get away from their concern. Because she was close to telling them and if she did … Jac shook her head as she ducked into the empty corridor outside theatre. Slumping down into one of the plastic chairs, Jac took a deep calming breath as she tried to sort out her emotions. She let her head fall back against the wall as she hugged one of her knees to her chest and rested her free hand on the small bump.

"Please … tell me." she opened her eyed to see Jonny crouching beside her with unease on his face in place of the usual smile that had been there since he'd done the ultrasound six weeks ago and they'd seen their baby for the first time. "Please …"

Jac sighed and looked into his eyes as she bit her bottom lip. "I don't want you to think any differently of me," she whispered, ashamed of her past.

He took covered the hand on her bump with his, "you know that will never happen Jac …"

Jac relented and opened her mouth to speak as footsteps echoed down the corridor. "Mr Franks, can we help you?" Jonny asked the lawyer.

"I would like a word with Ms Naylor if that's alright … and that registrar wanted you _nurse_." But he was staring at Jac as he spoke, daring her to object. Before she could figure a way to keep Jonny with them, he was agreeing and heading back to the ward and Jac found she was breaking her promise to Elliot.

It was with panic that Jac heard the door at the end of the ward shut and she knew that there wasn't anyone in theatre. She was alone. Jac tensed as Franks sat down on the plastic seat beside her and started whistling 'The Final Countdown' out of tune and rhythmically out.

"So, Jacky. How have you been?"

Jac didn't respond.

"Cat gotcha tongue?" he teased.

"What do you want?" she asked finally.

"Nothing," he said. "Does a father need to want something to speak with his daughter?"

"You are not my father!"

He grabbed her shoulder and jerked her round to face him. "Oh yes I am Jacky. I was there when you were dragged into this cruel world."

"Shove off!" Jac shrugged him off and got up, trembling she made to walk off down the corridor and then run to Jonny or Elliot or even Mo – whoever she saw first – and beg them to keep him away from her. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

A hand grabbed her by the back of her scrub shirt and yanked her back with enough force to make her lose her balance. She crumpled back into him and he shoved her off him and against the wall, causing her to knock her head. She spun round so her back was to the wall and swayed on the spot as he stepped up close to her – closer than a normal relationship between father and daughter would allow – and placed his hands either side of her head.

She knew that look … the look of desire – intensified now that she was that much older – and what she'd come to believe was pure evil haunted her dreams and caused her to shy away from the touch of a man at times.

"Do we need another lesson Jacky?" He leered at her, his breath – like it always used to – stinking of stale tobacco and rancid booze. "Do we need to go through the rules again? After all, it's been – what? – a good twenty years or so hasn't it?" He raised his fist and she couldn't help flinch away from it. Closing her eyes, Jac found she'd entered one of her nightmares.

_Rule number one; don't flinch._

"What was that?" he hit the wall beside her and she flinched again before he raised his arm to repeat the action but on her this time, not the wall.

"No … dad – dad _please_! No!"

_Rule two; don't beg._

His hit her, hard, across the face twice before he grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Now, whose fault is it?"

_Three; it's my fault._

"Whose fault?" he hit her again.

"Mine – it's mine! It's my fault! Please … dad – dad stop, it's … it's my fault … all my fault." She sobbed tearfully.

_Four; don't cry._

She lost track of the number as his fists collided with her again and again. "That's right! … Stop that!" he yelled as she struggled to push him away, to fight him off and protect the unborn child growing inside her.

_Number five; don't fight._

"I said stop that!" he hit her again as she doubled over, her arms wrapping round the small bump trying to protect the innocent life within her from the harsh blows of her father. "Why are you doing that?" he demanded, "Tell me!"

"No!"

"Tell me Jacky!"

"My name's _not_ Jacky!"

"Oh yes it is! Now tell me!" he forced her arms away and pinned them with one hand above her head as he discovered the secret she'd been hiding from him. "Oh Jacky …" but he said it as if he was contemplating all the added 'fun' he could have. "Jacky, Jacky, Jacky …"

"My name's _not _Jacky!" she yelled at him and he hit her again, but not across the face but in her stomach.

"Yes it is! You little slut of a daughter … bet you don't even know who the father is? Do ya Jacky?" he hit her again. "Get rid of it."

"Never!" she lifted a trembling hand to her bruised cheek gingerly before finding a small amount of courage inside her. "My name is _not_ Jacky!"

_Rule six; don't argue._

She cried out in pain as his fists continued to hit their mark all over her body and the little strength she had crumbled and faded from her. "Please …" she whispered with tears streaming down her face. "Dad ... dad please – please stop! Stop! My name – it's _not_ Jacky … dad! Dad … stop!" she begged as she tried to fight him off and also arguing with him at the same time. "_Please_ … just – just … just _stop_!" Surely someone could hear all this? Surely someone would come and pull him off her … but then again, no one had when she was a child, so why would they now?

He dragged her away from the wall and the small amount of protection it offered before smacking her sharply across the face, sending her crashing to the floor in a heap. She struggled to push herself upright; she knew what came next.

_And seven; don't get up._

He clamped a hand over her mouth and Jac struggled for all she was worth, trying to scream but not being able to due to all her tears and her sobs. "Shut up!" he hissed "have I taught you _nothing_ you little twerp!"

His hand remained clamed firmly over her mouth, muffling her screams and her sobs as she tried to fight him. And then he got tired of keeping her quiet; his hands clamped round her throat, blocking her trachea and starving her body – and her baby – of oxygen. Jac was terrified as she showed no signs of stopping and she tried as hard as she could to push her father off. It wasn't to saver herself, it was to save her baby – her child. If she wasn't pregnant Jac would never have fought him so much and risked his wrath as she had.

She was no longer screaming, she didn't have enough strength left to scream, but she was crying – tears streaming from her eyes – as she looked up into the face of her father and realised that his wild-eyed, deranged look complete with a snarl on his lips and the dishevelled hair would be the last thing she'd see.

He was going to kill her. Jac let her eyes drift shut as Jonny's face swam forwards in her mind as her subconscious wondered off. Suddenly she found she was drifting in the corridor and watching the scene unfold before her – but she couldn't hear it. Jonny ran right through her as he yanked Franks off Jac with the help of Michael while Mo and Elliot dropped to their knees beside her.

_Jonny ran through her._ Alarmed, she glanced down at her hands to find that they were transparent – see through. Jac spun on her heel – but it was like she was submerged in water, the sensation was met with resistance as she struggled to take in a complete view of what was happening to her body and to her … _spirit?_

She was scared – panic bubbled up inside her and a choked unheard sob, followed by a second as she saw rather than heard, Jonny yelling her name as security handcuffed her father. What was happening to her … the thought crossed her mind and she knew the answer at once; she was dying – or already dead. But she didn't _want_ to be dead – she … she was going to be a mother and – and … Jac's hands flew to her small bump and tears streamed from her eyes. Forever unborn would this child be.

"Don't be scared Jac." Glancing up Jac would've fallen over if she wasn't already floating. "Hay, it's okay … trust me." Linden Cullen told her with a smile.

"But …?" she should've realised that she wouldn't be the only one. That she wasn't the only member of Holby to have died here and sure enough they were there too.

"You're doing great," Maddy Young told her, placing a comforting arm round her shoulders. "There's still hope … for you both."

"What … what?"

"You're not properly dead yet." Penny shrugged. "There's always hope that the crash trolley will work – or the respiratory resus …"

"I … I don't …" Jac shook her head. "I don't care about me," she told them, "but …"

"Your baby?" Standing beside Penny, Tara Lo smiled sympathetically.

"Oh don't give me that crap!" Jac snapped and Tara rolled her eyes as Linden, Penny and Maddy chuckled. Jac instantly regretted her words but it seemed Tara didn't mind. "Sorry …" she muttered. "I … I – I …"

"You're scared," Linden told her. "It's okay … so were we Jac. So were we."

"Have you always been here?"

"We never left …" Maddy smiled. "We've been making sure that things move on and that people get what they deserve."

At Jac's confused look Penny answered, "Like my brother … when Tara turned up I made sure that he and her y'know … to help him."

"Even though she was dying?"

"Yeah … they mucked up there," Tara smiled. However they seemed to get on – Tara and Penny – much to Jac's surprise.

"And then we came to you," Linden smiled and Jac frowned. "Oh c'mon Jac, we all saw how much it hurt when Joseph left you …"

"So what are you saying? You _made _me fall in love with Jonny?"

"You did that all by yourself … we just, convinced you to follow him to the store room on his first day." Maddy winked. "That you'd get pregnant … well who'd of thought huh?"

They fell silent as a trolley was wheeled down the corridor along with a crash trolley. Elliot grabbed the life-saving machine as Mo grabbed the oxygen mask and fitted it over Jac's mouth and nose while Michael was holding Jonny back. "He cares a great deal 'bout you Jac," Linden said and Jac assumed he was talking about Jonny until she realised that he was watching Elliot rather than Jonny.

"So how come Elliot knew about your dad then?" Tara asked as they lifted Jac up on to the trolley and wheeled her down the corridor.

"Why aren't they shocking me?" Jac asked, scared. "Am I – _we –_ already dead then?"

"No … see you're not as solid as us … yet." Penny whispered.

"Yet." Jac repeated, and then she figured there was nothing she could do and decided to answer Tara. "Well … he – he was my doctor as a child and … well he knew what my dad did – all the beatings and … well he wrote it all in my folder …" Jac still found she couldn't talk about it. "I changed my name when I was eighteen and when I came to work here he hid my file in his desk and started a new on for me …"

"Did Joseph ever know?" Penny asked, "did you ever tell him about all this?"

Jac shook her head, "Why? He loved Faye more than he ever loved me." Linden watched her with a small smile and no one spoke because it was true. And then she doubled over as a sharp pain erupted in her chest. She felt it again and let out a small gasp. "What's happening?"

"They're trying to bring you back." Tara whispered, "and look …" she pointed and Jac realised she was becoming fainter and fainter.

"Will I remember this?"

"No," Linden told her, "but don't worry Jac; we'll look out for you … and you're baby."

"My baby!" she panicked, her hands flying to her bump.

"Your baby is fine Jac." Maddy told her and Jac found that she was struggling now, to see them and hear them.

"You were great!" she yelled back, "all of you! I mean it!" and then … they were gone – or was she gone? Everything was blank and her mind was numb as she lost all concept of time and then and now and what was and what is. In that time, she forgot all about her out of body experience and she even forgot her own name for a moment until she heard someone speaking it – calling to her and trying to get some kind of response.

She stirred and turned away from the noise, and tried to tell them to leave her alone. "Jac!" he called again, "C'mon Jac, now isn't the time to sleep! Jac … I know you can hear me … open your eyes Jac … Jac!" She groaned and wondered what the problem was. She was just sleeping … no harm in it was there? "Jac!" the tones were shaper now, as if there was in fact, a danger in her submitting to the urge to sleep. "Open your eyes!"

Jac blinked. His face swam into view inches above her own and it took a moment for her to work out what had happened, where she was, and who she was. Then it all came crashing down on her in one huge wave and a hand flew to her mouth as she remembered. "Elliot … I'm so sorry!"

He sighed with relief and hugged her gently as she sobbed into his shoulder. "It's not your fault." He said consolingly, "Don't _ever_ think that it's your fault." He looked up as a door opened and he gently pushed Jac off him, got up and let someone younger take his place and hold her. This new person settled beside her and wrapped her tightly – but not too tightly because Elliot cautioned broken ribs – and kissed her hair.

"I've gotcha," he murmured, "I've gotcha, you wee stubborn fool." Jac cried even harder and Jonny held her through it all. In truth he was most likely thankful that she was so _alive_ right then. "And the baby's fine too … you're _both_ fine, okay? It's alright Jac … I'm not letting go."

Sometime later, once the tears had dried up and the hiccups were only now occasional, Jac spoke in a soft voice that was to save the rasp of her throat. "I was gonna tell you," she whispered, " but then … he came and … you – I couldn't think of … of a reason to get you to stay and …"

"Sssshhh," Jonny kissed her hair again. "It doesn't matter Jac … okay? I know it all now – Elliot … he yelled at me for leaving you alone with him once we'd worked out that you both were going to be okay … if anything … I'm more determined not to let you go."

"I love you," Jac whispered.

"I love you too," Jonny whispered back as Mo entered the room and told Jonny that Jac needed rest and to leave her be for a bit. "I'll be back," he promised.

"I know."

Mo sat checked Jac's obs and checked over Jac. "How are you feeling? And none of your usual 'I am okay' crap; I want the truth."

"I feel like I can sleep for a century." She admitted, "But Elliot decided that wasn't allowed …"

"That's only because you've been unconscious for two days Jac," Mo told her gently. "We needed you to wake … you wanna talk? I get the feeling you don't wanna tell Jonny – or daddy Elliot." Jac smiled slightly.

"Not now Mo … I can't now …"

Mo patted her hand, "anytime okay? Oh and this is for you," she pulled something out of the file and handed it to Jac. "Gotten big, huh?" Jac stared at the blotchy picture of her baby and smiled, grateful that the baby hadn't been taken from her or Jonny. "We'll do another scan at three … if your asleep d'you want me to wake you so you can see?"

Jac nodded gratefully and Mo left her to sleep. "Mo … I wasn't trying to direct his attention to you or anything."

"I never thought you were."

Jac smiled slightly and Mo smiled in return before shutting the door and leaving Jac to rest and recover. An hour or so later, Jonny slipped into the room and tucked her hair behind her ear, careful as he stroked her bruised face before kissing her gently and leaving to return to his job. At three, true to her word, Mo gently woke Jac so that they could do another scan.

Smiling at the little bundle of joy fidgeting around on the screen – Jac and Mo both agreed that the baby was definitely Jonny's baby – before Mo switched off the machine and reminded Jac that she just needed to ask and she would listen. Figuring that it still was too soon, Mo headed towards the door when Jac spoke.

"I saw him, and I … I – it all came back ... I've spent _so long_ trying to forget it all and …" Jac couldn't go on; the words stuck in her throat.

"No one should have to look at their father and remember that sort of thing … I can't say I understand Jac … but I can say that shutting yourself and dealing with it alone won't help you to forget … and telling people won't make them think any worse of you."

"I'm just … scared," she admitted for the first time and Mo didn't miss a step as she replied with a comment she was sure would ease the tension.

"The only thing you have to be scared of is what kind of proposal Jonny's planning …" Jac smiled and shook her head as her eyes shut.

"Please … makes sure he goes for plan D." Mo laughed and patted her on the shoulder as Elliot came into the room, asking to be alone with Jac for a moment.

"Look … I know you don't want to … but;" he glanced over his shoulder and Jac spotted two policemen waiting outside the room. "Please Jac … it might help you to … to move on." He had her old file in his hands. "I can get Jonny to come in with you if you want? Or … or Mo?"

"Can … can you stay?" she asked. "I … I mean you've practically been my dad so …"

Elliot smiled. "Of course I will … you sure you can do this?"

"I think I have to," she whispered and Elliot nodded as he opened the door and let the police into the room.


End file.
